posted 02-03-2009 03:37 PM
I need some help identifying a piece of orbiter hardware. The scrap tag shows it as an "INBD FWD HI TEMP INSULATOR" with the part number V070-197123-002 and the remark "Door #9".

Can anyone give me more information on where exactly it was located on the orbiter and what its purpose was?

This Inboard Forward High Temperature Insulator was flown on STS-94 (Columbia - OV102) from 7/1 - 7/17/1997. It may well have flown on prior flights as the NASA documentation indicates it was removed from the orbiter one month following STS-94 and prior to the flight of STS-87 in November of that year. This substantial piece of flown material measures 6.75" long x 2" high x .75" thick. It is accompanied by a NASA Unserviceable Tag along with matching serial nos.

Jay ChladekMember

Posts: 2270From: Bellevue, NE, USARegistered: Aug 2007

posted 02-07-2009 11:41 PM
Sounds to me like it is something related to one of the payload bay vent doors. These doors line the cargo bay just below the payload bay doors themselves. They keep the payload bay unpressurized during flight. As such, I can see insulators sitting inside the areas behind the vent doors as presumeably there would be equipment in that area related to the heat radiators in the cargo bay and the payload bay door hinges themselves.

Robert PearlmanEditor

Posts: 35185From: Houston, TXRegistered: Nov 1999

posted 02-09-2009 10:48 AM
To keep both site's threads up to date, here's the latest reply from the counterpart topic on NASASpaceflight.com:

"V070-" signifies that this is flight hardware.

The first two digits identify the Orbiter subsystem. In this case "-19xxxx" identifies the hardware as belonging to the Wing Thermal Protection System. Usually odd numbered parts (the 7) were for the left side of the Orbiter.

There are only a few places this part could have been - behind the wing RCC leading edge or inside the wing/elevon interface. There were no such high temp insulation in the wing elevon area, but there were high temp insulation parts on the forward edge of the wing spar (behind the RCC leading edge). These were part of the rather complicated high temperature attachment hardware (and related insulation blankets encased in steel foil) used to attach the RCC leading edge to the wing spar (aluminum). This part is most likely is part of the left wing RCC attachment hardware. The Orbiter fuselage vent doors did not have any such high temp insulation blankets - and they would have had a different part number (for the PV&D subsystem).

7 Forty7Member

Posts: 28From: Registered: Jan 2007

posted 02-14-2009 11:59 AM
Just to update the thread, I've been given some other info on the part.

It has been identified as "OV-102 Flipper door 9 forward corner insulator, deleted for lightweight door. It is an Inconel insulator... went under Elevon Flipper door #9 (inboard side). This was associated with the old style flipper doors, and is no longer used with the new Aluminum flipper door (weight savings mod)".

Shuttle EndeavourMember

Posts: 234From: Freehold, NJ, USARegistered: Aug 2013

posted 12-10-2013 10:21 AM
I just bought a piece of STS-55 flown Inconel blanket. It is a flat piece of metal with some burnt sides, and in the scrap documents it says that a gap filler was nearby.

Does anyone know where on the orbiter this piece was likely at?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Ken HavekotteMember

Posts: 2297From: Merritt Island, Florida, BrevardRegistered: Mar 2001

posted 12-10-2013 11:36 AM
Just for the record, just about all the shuttle orbiter high-temp insulators on the market today came from Columbia after STS-94 in July 1997.

My firm was able to acquire most, if not all, of the wing elevon flipper door area insulators about three to four years after they last flew as part of Columbia on the orbiter's 23rd flight, also known as the re-flight of STS-83.

It was believed that all of the high-temp insulators did in fact, or in most cases, were flown/used aboard all subsequent OV-102 orbital missions since STS-1 in 1981 until their replacements after July 1997 (the first 23 of her 28 flights altogether from 1981-2003).

danhNew Member

Posts: 7From: Carmel, INRegistered: Apr 2016

posted 08-12-2016 10:24 PM

"V070-" signifies that this is flight hardware.

The first two digits identify the Orbiter subsystem. In this case "-19xxxx" identifies the hardware as belonging to the Wing Thermal Protection System. Usually odd numbered parts (the 7) were for the left side of the Orbiter...

There's some great information in this thread. I'm particularly interested in the numbering convention mentioned above. Is there a reference that explains this in greater detail, specifically the numbers for other subsystems?